[Met_help] Re: PrepBufr format needed for METv1.0

[John Halley Gotway]

Svetlana,

I've posted the METv1.1 beta release to an FTP site.  You can access it via: ftp.rap.ucar.edu/incoming/irap/johnhg/METv1.1beta4.20080416.tar.gz

Please be aware that the documentation has not been updated yet for this release.  You'll want to use the new ASCII2NC tool included in this release.  You can look at the test script for ASCII2NC 
(METv1.1beta4/scripts/test_ascii2nc.sh) for an example of how to run it.  Or if you just call it with no arguments, you'll get the usage statement.

Please let me know if you run into any problems using it.

Thanks,
John

Svetlana Music - SENES Consultants Limited wrote:
> John,
> 
> Please provide me with a beta release of METv1.1.
> 
> Thank you.
> Svetlana
> 
> At 03:47 PM 4/28/2008, you wrote:
>> Svetlana,
>>
>> I apologize for not getting back to you sooner.  I was out of the 
>> office all last week.
>>
>> I see that you'd like to use ASCII point observations to in MET.  
>> We're currently working on a new release of MET, version 1.1, which 
>> will enable you to do that directly, without having to go through the 
>> step of converting to PREPBUFR.  To answer your question though, 
>> PrepBufr is a variant of BUFR used by NCEP (Nat'l Centers for 
>> Environmental Prediction) here in the United States.  While I believe 
>> you'd be able to use a BUFR library to read PrepBufr files, I believe 
>> the formats differ somewhat.
>>
>> We have links on the MET website pointing out where you can access 
>> PrepBufr data: 
>> http://www.dtcenter.org/met/users/downloads/observation_data.php
>>
>> However, we realize that users may want to use observations that are 
>> not already included in PrepBufr files.  So METv1.1 will contain a new 
>> tool called ASCII2NC (similar to PB2NC for PrepBufr) which enables 
>> ASCII observations to be used in MET.  For this initial release, we're 
>> only supporting ASCII observations in a predefined format consisting 
>> of rows of data which each contain one observation value.  10 columns 
>> of data are expected in each row:
>>    Message_Type Station_ID Valid_Time(YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS)
>>    Lat(Deg North) Lon(Deg East) Elevation(msl)
>>    Grib_Code Level Height(msl) Observation_Value
>>
>> We plan to make METv1.1 available by late May 2008.  However, if you'd 
>> need to begin working on this immediately, I could provide you with a 
>> beta release of METv1.1 for you try out.
>>
>> Just let me know.
>>
>> John Halley-Gotway
>>
>>
>> Svetlana Music - SENES Consultants Limited wrote:
>>> Hello John,
>>> Bosko Telenta  has installed the METv1.0 here at SENES  and we intend 
>>> to use it for the verification of our WRF NNM  model. In order to use 
>>> Point-Stat Tool we need point observations at PrepBufr format.  
>>> Please advise where we can get software to convert observations from 
>>> ASCII to that requested format. Is it the same as BUFR code used for 
>>> coding the observations collected through GTS?
>>> Thank you in advance.
>>> Svetlana
>>>
>>> Svetlana Music
>>> Meteorologist,
>>> Numerical Meteorological Modelling
>>> SENES Consultants Limited
>>> 121 Granton Drive, Unit 12
>>> Richmond Hill, Ontario
>>> Canada L4B 3N4
>>> Tel:  (905) 764-9380
>>> Fax:  (905) 764-9386
>>> Email Address:  smusic at senes.ca
>>> Web Site:  http://www.senes.ca/
>>> This transmission is intended only for the addressee and may contain 
>>> PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL information. Any unauthorized disclosure, 
>>> use or retention is strictly prohibited. SENES does not accept 
>>> liability for any errors, omissions, corruption or virus in contents 
>>> or attachments. Information is provided for use "as is" by the 
>>> addressee. Revised documents must not be represented as SENES work 
>>> product, without express, written permission of a SENES Director.
>>
> 
> 
> Svetlana Music
> 
> Meteorologist,
> Numerical Meteorological Modelling
> 
> SENES Consultants Limited
> 121 Granton Drive, Unit 12
> Richmond Hill, Ontario
> Canada L4B 3N4
> Tel:  (905) 764-9380
> Fax:  (905) 764-9386
> Email Address:  smusic at senes.ca
> Web Site:  http://www.senes.ca/
> 
> This transmission is intended only for the addressee and may contain 
> PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL information. Any unauthorized disclosure, use 
> or retention is strictly prohibited. SENES does not accept liability for 
> any errors, omissions, corruption or virus in contents or attachments. 
> Information is provided for use "as is" by the addressee. Revised 
> documents must not be represented as SENES work product, without 
> express, written permission of a SENES Director.